Go see the full transcript at SNL Takes A Swipe At Obama Over China Trip [Video]. Very funny and pointed.  I didn’t think they still had it in them.

INTERPRETER: Thank you, Mr. President. I would like to add that I completely understand why you feel entitled to come here and lecture China on our shortcomings. After all, my country does owe the United States a great deal of money. Oh, wait. Hold on a moment. I believe I had that backwards. In fact, now that I think about it, it is your country that owes us a large sum of money. Is this correct?

OBAMA: Uh… yes.

. . .

INTERPRETER: Are we? Are we going to get our money? Because from what I read your country is in the middle of a serious recession.

OBAMA: Uh, while this is true, there are signs that our bailout has steadied the financial markets and our stimulus package has been effective in fixing the job crisis.

(Hu Jintao “speaks.”)

INTERPRETER: I’m curious. How many jobs has it created?

OBAMA: Uh, so far, none.

. . .

OBAMA: But our health care reform plan, we’re confident, is going to lead to enormous savings.

(Hu Jintao “speaks.”)

INTERPRETER: How exactly is extending health care coverage to 30 million people going to save you money?

OBAMA: I… don’t know.

You might think that Obama fans would have learned not to trust his promises.  He promised cooperation but is more radically Left than any President has been or hopefully will be.  Afghanistan was the “good war,” but he is doing everything he can to lose it (by doing nothing).  And on and on.

So why do people believe the health care fictions?

Even without the lies behind sneaking taxpayer-funded abortion to the health care ill it is still an awful idea.  People argue by anecdote with problems in the current system.  Conservatives agree and offer solutions that are ignored, such as tort reform and increased competition.  But people still want to turn control of this over to the Federal government knowing that it will be almost impossible to ever get it back.

I’m just pointing out what should be obvious: Eliminating insurance and giving all the power to the government is a bad idea and it is not a logical conclusion from the premise that insurance companies have flaws.  Using that logic, they should concede that since Medicare is already experiencing $60 BILLION in fraud that giving even more to the government is just begging for more fraud.

Or they should concede that stories of bad care with socialized medicine would make us stay with private carriers.

Perhaps the solution is a little more complicated than just turning over control to the Federal government and hoping for the best.

Some argue that health care is too important to leave to the private sector.  But what about food?  That is even more important.  By that logic the government would take over food production and more.

Questions for those wanting government to completely control health care:

• Do you find government agencies to be more customer oriented than other businesses? 
• Do you find their employees to be more qualified than those in the private sector? 
• Do you get better service from monopolies or from businesses who must compete?
• Do you get better service from contractors if you pre-pay or if they get paid when the work is done?

The latest ACORN video.  But Fox definitely shouldn’t mention this in the news, right?

Breitbart to Eric Holder: Investigate ACORN, or else – As if the videos to date aren’t enough, there are more shoes to drop.  I’m with the author:

Principle over party, Attorney General.  Or your party gets hammered.  Your call.  Speaking as a Republican, I hope that you try to keep stonewalling; speaking as an American (which takes precedence), I suggest that you don’t.

—

Surprise!  Global warming proponents play the same as evolutionists do: “Your views aren’t science because they aren’t in peer reviewed journals and they can’t be in peer reviewed journals because they aren’t science.”  And if they if they do make it into a peer reviewed journal, then just insist that the peer reviewed journal is no longer valid.  Either that, or destroy whoever let the view in.  Voila!  How very scientific and ethical.  Heh.

—

More problems for Al Gore & Co., if only the media would report them and ensure that everyone who saw An Inconvenient Truth were aware of them: Global warming hysterics burned by predictions.

—

People are rightly outraged at fraud, but are wildly naive to think it only happens in business.  There is already a ton of fraud with the TARP funds and other government programs.  Who’d have thought that would happen?  I mean, just because a massive amount of money is thrown around with little controls, why would that attract bad guys?

—

Liberal media rep Norah O’Donnell tries to play “gotcha” with 17 year old – She interviewed her once, then gathered some data, then turned the cameras on.  But no media bias here, folks!  Now maybe Norah could question Obama & Co. over all their health care lies and broken promises of bi-artisanship.

—

Jesse Jackson: “You can’t vote against healthcare and call yourself a black man” – I’d say you shouldn’t be pro-legalized abortion and call yourself a black man.

—

Take that, Jews. White House guts annual Hannakhah party; meanwhile, Obama wishes there were more Muslim holidays to celebrate – great commentary from my favorite gay Chicago bloggers

Hat tip: Self Evident Truths

For many people the word “Christian” has lost or changed meaning.  It used to mean someone who was an authentic follower of Jesus.  Now it is often used as a synonym for nice, as in, “She’s a really Christian person,” or to describe someone who goes to church sometimes while rejecting the essentials of the faith.

Theological liberals tend to get very wounded if you imply that they don’t hold Christian views.  They’ve been in false-teaching churches so long and have such a low view of scripture that they think that is the way church is supposed to be.

It is ultimately God’s job to assess who truly trusts in Jesus and who does not.  I’m not qualified and wouldn’t want the job even if I was. 

Jesus did say that you will know them by their fruit and that we should make right judgments, so it is fair to examine people’s lives to see if they have evidence for their faith.  But mistakes can be made during fruit inspection.  We would have probably thought that Judas was the real deal and that the criminal on the cross was not. 

But it does seem fair to point out when self-described Christians don’t hold views that have historically applied to Christians, as shown in the Bible, countless creeds and denominational statements of faith.  The views of theological Liberals mock the cross and the blood of the martyrs who died — and who still suffer and die today — rather than recant their faith.

First, consider this conversation:

Me: I’m a Muslim.

Real Muslim: No, you’re not. 

Me: Really, I am, and I’m offended that you say I’m not.

RM: Do you believe the Koran is the word of God?

Me: No, of course not.  A man wrote it, and it has obvious errors like saying that a body double died on the cross instead of Jesus.  It was written hundreds of years after Christ, and even sources outside the Bible claim that Jesus himself died.  And don’t get me started about all the violence it encourages!  Why trust the Koran?

RM: Do you believe in Allah as the one true God?

Me: No.

RM: Do you like Jewish people?

Me: Yes.

RM: Do you eat pork?

Me: Mmmmmmm . . . bacon.

RM: You aren’t a Muslim.

Me: Yes I am! 

Sounds ridiculous, right?  Now consider this:

Me: Are you a Christian?

Liberal theologian: Yes.

Me: Do you believe the Bible is the Word of God?

LT: No, not a bit of it.  Even though it claims to speak for God roughly 3,000 times, I think those are all made up by people. 

Me: Do you think Jesus is God?

LT: No.

Me: Do you believe any of the miracles recorded in the Bible are true?

LT: Of course not.  I’m too smart for that.  Miracles can’t happen.  Writers made those up.

Me: Do you think Jesus is the only way to salvation?

LT: No.

Me: Do you believe that Jesus physically rose from the dead?

LT: No.

Me: Do you believe that we are created in God’s image and that we should protect innocent human life?

LT: Abortions for any and all reasons at any time are fine with God.  Jesus is pro-legalized abortion.  We get to decide who the real “persons” are.

Me: Do you look for opportunities to share the Gospel as outlined in the Bible?

LT: Of course not.  All religions (or no religions) are valid paths to God.  God loves us unconditionally.  We don’t need a Savior.

Me: Do you realize how radically different your basic views are from those of Christians throughout the last 2,000 years, especially to the countless Christians who died rather than recant their faith?

LT: Sort of . . . but we’re so much smarter than they were.

Me: Indeed.  But how can you claim to be a Christian?

LT: How dare you question my faith?!

Is the first conversation different from the second? 

I haven’t had that precise conversation with any liberal Christians, but it is a highly accurate composite.  Try it yourself.  You may find that their views are even more bizarre.  I’m almost certain that any of the “Jesus Seminar” members would answer the questions that way.  For example, I read a book co-authored by Marcus Borg (a member of the Jesus Seminar) and he held all the heretical views noted above and more.

These people may be decent citizens and friendly neighbors, but calling themselves Christians wildly distorts the meaning of the word.  I wish the frauds would be honest for once and officially switch to professing atheism or Hinduism, which are much more in line with their views.

One type of finch evolves into a slightly different type of finch – Just a few more cycles and it will evolve into Angelina Jolie, or something along those lines.  Golly, I guess that proves macro-evolution once and for all.  My bad.  I’ve been wrong all along.

—

12 Rules To Govern And Live By For Destroying An Economy And A Nation – Great list by Dan.  If I didn’t know better I’d think a certain nation was dutifully following them all.

—

Great analysis of Bart Ehrman’s ironic and contradictory thinking. 

In the end, Jesus Interrupted can be best summarized as a book filled with ironies. Ironic that it purports to be about unbiased history but rarely presents an opposing viewpoint; ironic that it claims to follow the scholarly consensus but breaks from it so often; ironic that it insists on the historical-critical method but then reads the gospels with a modernist, overly-literal hermeneutic; ironic that it claims no one view of early Christianity could be “right” (Walter Bauer) but then proceeds to tell us which view of early Christianity is “right;” ironic that it dismisses Papias with a wave of the hand but presents the Gospel of the Ebionites as if it were equal to the canonical four; and ironic that it declares everyone can “pick and choose” what is right for them, but then offers its own litany of moral absolutes. Such intellectual schizophrenia suggests there is more going on in Jesus Interrupted than meets the eye. Though veiled in the garb of scholarship, this book is religious at the core. Ehrman does not so much offer history as he does theology, not so much academics as he does his own ideology. The reader does not get a post-religious Ehrman as expected, but simply gets a new-religious Ehrman–an author who has traded in one religious system (Christianity) for another (postmodern agnosticism). Thus, Ehrman is not out to squash religion as so many might suppose. He is simply out to promote his own. He is preacher turned scholar turned preacher. And of all the ironies, perhaps that is the greatest.

Hat tip: Alpha & Omega Ministries

—

Hungry Americans: Debunking The Hype – How many hungry are there?  What are the real problems?  Also see where Dinesh D’Souza has interesting reflections on this:

This book, some of his articles, and many of his speeches make the following point: “Indeed, newcomers to the United States are struck by the amenities enjoyed by poor people. This fact was dramatized in the 1980s when CBS television broadcast a documentary, People Like Us, intended to show the miseries of the poor during an ongoing recession. The Soviet Union also broadcast the documentary, with a view to embarrassing the Reagan administration. But by the testimony of former Soviet leaders, it had the opposite effect. Ordinary people across the Soviet Union saw that the poorest Americans have TV sets, microwave ovens and cars. They arrived at the same perception that I witnessed in an acquaintance of mine from Bombay who has been unsuccessfully trying to move to the United States. I asked him, Why are you so eager to come to America? He replied, I really want to live in a country where the poor people are fat. Dinesh D’Souza “

With all the debate over the health care bill, abortion is back in the news.  Many people know it is wrong but don’t know how to present the case for life.  Please spend a little time getting educated and be ready to share the truth in love.  Lives are at stake.

Even if you are firmly pro-choice I urge you to review these resources.  The worst that could happen is that you learn more about your ideological enemy’s arguments.

If you only have time for one web site, go to Abort73.com.  They have a thorough, concise and easy to read site that takes you through all the major issues. 

Or go through the slides I use for training volunteers at CareNet.  And learn about what organizations like CareNet do for women in crisis pregnancies.  Or scan my posts in the Pro-life Reasoning category to the left.

Then see this fact based, winsome and reasoned defense of life by Kathy Ireland.  She went from pro-choice to pro-life after examining the scientific evidence.  Don’t just listen to the facts, note her compelling manner.

Then watch the O’Reilly interview with Abby Johnson, the Planned Parenthood Director who quit after participating in an ultrasound and seeing a human being lose its fight for life. 

Or search Stand to Reason for their many outstanding pro-life resources and articles.

Please take the time to get a little better informed.  You don’t have to know everything, but you can learn enough to easily defend the basics of the pro-life view.  Or you’ll at least have some resources to point people to.  And you can at least point out that while abortions may be legal it is a radical change to make pro-lifers fund them with taxes, and that the Democrats have consistently lied on this point.

P.S. Planned Parenthood hides statutory rape.  Why will the health care bill give them even more business?  Why haven’t they been de-funded already?  I’d rather fund ACORN than them.

Or at least their views are remarkably similar to Baal worshipers.  They are actually a group of Jews, Muslims and (alleged) Christians. 

The letter, signed by 70 members of the clergy, posed this argument: “Whether from the words of Torah or the Gospels of Jesus, whether from the Talmud or the Koran — our traditions all are explicit and clear on one thing: We are commanded to seek the welfare and healing of all those in our midst, especially the weak, especially the vulnerable.”

I’ve read all of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible many times and can’t recall a single passage commanding us to lobby Caesar to take from neighbor A by threat of force to give to neighbor B. 

Yep, nothing like a bunch of pro-abortion clergy lecturing you about helping the “weak” and “especially the vulnerable.”  I’m getting all choked up here.

There was one true point:

I wouldn’t say that the Torah commands a public option per se, but I think our faith does require we have a debate about the best ways to improve health care for the underprivileged.

I don’t know if faith requires it or not, but of course we should have a debate.  The problem is that there are many great ideas being ignored (tort reform, more competition, tax benefits to employees so they can take coverage when they leave, etc.) because the Liberals don’t want to entertain those.  These religious folks set up the typical false dichotomy: Give all the control to Caesar or you are a greedy bastard who hates the poor.

No Christian should have been involved in such an enterprise.  It clearly breaks God’s command not to be unequally yoked on spiritual matters.  Then again, what do theological Liberals care about God’s commands? 

I don’t think Lieberman has much to worry about.  If he changes his mind it won’t be because these folks prayed, because Baal isn’t real.

A Facebook status asked, “There are so many words to describe our God. Which would be your favorite?”

My word would be awesome – not because I use it a lot but because I use it carefully and sparingly.  The word is overused such that it has lost much of its power.  But I try to only use it to describe God. 

I checked my 1,224 posts on this blog to see how well I’ve done with that.  It came up about 6 times.  Two were within quotes of others (a comment from a prisoner who went through a Kairos weekend and a reference to the powerful force of U.S. military).

One was a reference to a Kairos team I worked with (“You were an awesome team to work with, and I don’t use that adjective very often.”)

One was about God and forgiveness (“Only an awesome God could wipe away a lifetime of sin and hatred by having the minister – who had presumably suffered from the prejudices of others – be the one to lead the man to Christ.”).

Only one was secular, in response to a gay person claiming they had no organized agenda (“You guys are the most awesome marketers I’ve ever seen.  Seriously.  You should all work for Fortune 50 marketing departments.”)

One was about Heaven (“Heaven will be awesome (I try to only use the word awesome to describe God and Heaven, so I mean that in the most powerful sense).”)

What is your favorite way to describe God?

Pro-aborts pull out stops opposing Stupak Amendment in healthcare – Wait a minute, that can’t be right!  We were told all along — including by the President himself — that the health care bill wouldn’t cover abortions, so any amendments would be unnecessary. 

Oh, right, they were all lying. 

—

Shocking: AP does more fact-checking (actually it is op-ed masquerading as reporting) of Palin’s book before it has been released than they did with Obama’s long-published books, not to mention investigating the rest of his background and associates.  

For those of you who voted for Obama, can you tell me what his college grades were?  How about SAT scores?  LSAT scores?  Or can you even give an explanation as to why he hasn’t released them?  Or why the media never pushed on these issues?

I’ll wait here.  [Crickets chirping]

—

A nice summary of highlights from our President’s “America Sucks!” tour.   Yep, groveling is a great way to win respect. 

—

Even Liberals can see what a huge mistake the 9/11 trial location is.

—

Enjoy this ironic pro-abortion cartoon.  He meant to lampoon the alleged inconsistency of pro-lifers, but if you pay attention you’ll see that we are consistently pro-life: Protecting all human beings from being killed against their will.

It is also amusing for him to imply that we only oppose abortion on religious grounds.  Even many atheists can see the immorality of crushing and dismembering innocent human beings. 

I wonder if he rails against the religious folks who (falsely) claim that Jesus would support the health care package in general and the pro-abortion part in particular?  Or is he hypocritical in only targeting religious people who disagree with him? 

Hat tip: Jill Stanek

A surprising and impressive post from a pro-Hillary Liberal blog written (I think) by some gays –  Thank you former President George W. Bush and former First Lady Laura Bush. 

We know absolutely no one in Bush family circles and have never met former President George W. Bush or his wife Laura.

If you have been reading us for any length of time, you know that we used to make fun of “Dubya” nearly every day…parroting the same comedic bits we heard in our Democrat circles, where Bush is still, to this day, lampooned as a chimp, a bumbling idiot, and a poor, clumsy public speaker.

Oh, how we RAILED against Bush in 2000…and how we RAILED against the surge in support Bush received post-9/11 when he went to Ground Zero and stood there with his bullhorn in the ruins on that hideous day.

We were convinced that ANYONE who was president would have done what Bush did, and would have set that right tone of leadership in the wake of that disaster. President Gore, President Perot, President Nader, you name it. ANYONE, we assumed, would have filled that role perfectly.

Well, we told you before how much the current president, Dr. Utopia, made us realize just how wrong we were about Bush.  We shudder to think what Dr. Utopia would have done post-9/11.  He would have not gone there with a bullhorn and struck that right tone.  More likely than not, he would have been his usual fey, apologetic self and waxed professorially about how evil America is and how justified Muslims are for attacking us, with a sidebar on how good the attacks were because they would humble us.

Honestly, we don’t think President Gore would have been much better that day.  The world needed George W. Bush, his bullhorn, and his indominable spirit that day…and we will forever be grateful to this man for that.

As we will always be grateful for what George and Laura Bush did this week, with no media attention, when they very quietly went to Ft. Hood and met personally with the families of the victims of this terrorist attack.

FOR HOURS.

The Bushes went and met privately with these families for HOURS, hugging them, holding them, comforting them.

If there are any of you out there with any connection at all to the Bushes, we implore you to give them our thanks…you tell them that a bunch of gay Hillary guys in Boystown, Chicago were wrong about the Bushes…and are deeply, deeply sorry for any jokes we told about them in the past, any bad thoughts we had about these good, good people.

You may be as surprised by this as we are ourselves, but from this day forward George W. and Laura Bush are now on the same list for us as the Clintons, Geraldine Ferraro, Stephanie Tubbs Jones, and the other political figures we keep in our hearts and never allow anyone to badmouth.

Criticize their policies academically and intelligently and discuss the Bush presidency in historical and political terms…but you mess with the Bushes personally and, from this day forward, you’ll answer to us.

We hope someday to be able to thank George W. and Laura in person for all they’ve done, and continue to do.  They didn’t have to head to Ft. Hood.  That was not their responsibility.

The Obamas should have done that.

But didn’t.

Wouldn’t.

Thank goodness George W. is still on his watch, with wonderful Laura at his side.

We are blessed as a nation to have these two out there…just as we are blessed to have the Clintons on the job, traveling the world doing the good they do.

And we are blessed to have Dick Cheney, wherever he is, keeping tabs on all that’s going on and speaking out when the current administration does anything too reckless and dangerous.

Cheney’s someone else we villainized and maligned in the past who we were also wrong about.  There has never been a Vice President, including Gore, Biden, or Mondale, who was more supportive of gay rights than “Darth Cheney”. There has never been a Vice President more spot-on right about the dangers facing this country from Islamic terrorism.

We live in strange, strange times indeed.

We are now officially committed fans of George W. and Laura Bush.  We are fans of Dick Cheney.  Our gratitude for them makes us newly protective of them, and the continued role they play in this country.

After the primary battle of 2008, we never thought we’d go back to Texas for anything, but sometime in 2010 we want to find some event in Dallas the Bushes will be at so at least one of us can go up to them, tell them we are deeply sorry for ever thinking ill of them, and thank them from the bottom of our hearts for their service to America.

We’re sure they will just stare at us and wonder why these gay Chicagoans are crying, but we don’t think we can get through a meeting with them without being emotional.

What they did at Ft. Hood for those families humbles us.  Every day, the Bushes are most likely doing something just like it behind the scenes.

We hope if any of you encounter them you will let them know this is deeply appreciated beyond partisan lines.

We will never look at the Bushes, the Bush presidencies, or their legacies the same again…and someday when his presidential library is built, we will be so proud to visit there and tell anyone will listen about November 10th, 2009, the day we finally appreciated former President George W. Bush and his wife Laura.

Thank you for your service, Mr. President.  We’re sorry we didn’t appreciate you while you were in office, but we thank Heaven we’ve wised up and can see the good you are out there doing, under the radar, today.

I really, really like my iPhone.  My work is moving to a new program where they’ll reimburse us a fixed rate and we pay for our own phones.  Seemed like a good time to dump my SmartPhone for an iPhone.

A grown man probably shouldn’t enjoy a material possession this much.  While the keypad is still too hard to use for significant amounts of typing, there are many things I really appreciate about the iPhone:

• You can listen to Podcasts or books at double speed (actually it is 1.5 times faster, but that is about right).  This saves a lot of time on Podcasts. 
• With a touch of a finger you can rewind 30 seconds at a time, which is great when I missed something or want it repeated.
• I use the iPod portion over 2 hours per day for my commutes and workouts.  It is great to have it combined with my phone.  Just one device for phone, iPod, working out, etc.
• I love the microphone feature in the headphones.  Yesterday I got a call while working out.  The music turned off when I answered it and turned back on when I hung up.
• I get my work and home email in one spot.
• The interface, as with all Apple products, is so intuitive and easy to use.
• I can keep up with email, Facebook and my Google reader during the day on breaks so it isn’t stacked up when I get home.
• The Logos Bible application is free and easy to use.
• The Google and map applications make it easy to find things.  It is sort of a crude GPS.
• The My Prayer List application is really handy ($2.99).  It lets you put in all sorts of prayer requests then randomly generates them depending on how many you want to see.  I find that one big prayer list gets overwhelming.  Check it out.

Hat tip to Mrs. Green for the title

Cash for Grades?

That controversial “cash for grades” fund raiser at a North Carolina middle school didn’t last too long.

After the scheme to award extra points on tests for $20 appeared in the Raleigh News & Observer, Wayne County district officials today killed the Rosewood Middle School fund raiser.

As easy as it is to mock this school district (what were they thinking?!), my daughters’ schools used to do the same thing, albeit with a middleman of sorts. They would get bonus points for bringing in various things such as supplies for the school. It wasn’t a direct cash payment, but my wallet couldn’t tell the difference.

—

Ex-Planned Parenthood Director given cold should at her church — how ironic that her pro-choice “church” doesn’t approve of her choice to quit PP and expose the truth about abortions.  Maybe those folks should participate in an abortion and watch it on the ultrasound. 

—

Chinese researchers find that abortion results in 17% increased risk of breast cancer – anyone seen any counterpoints to this?  I know the breast cancer link debate is controversial, with each side thinking it has trump-card studies. 

—

PZ Myers has such poor critical thinking skills when it comes to God and morality.  He rants at length as to why there is no such thing as true morality, but like most people positing that he can’t go a paragraph without a moral claim.  He definitely thinks intolerance is wrong.  I tend to agree, if one properly understands the classic definition of the word, but my claim would be consistent with my worldview while his is self-mockery.

Notice his outrage over Christians labeling homosexual behavior as a sin. Well, if there is no real morality saying it is sinful then there is also no real morality saying that it is wrong to call it a sin. He has 0.00 reasons to criticize the morality of Christians.  It is so ironic that they can’t see their hypocrisy.  What a delusional self-parody.  Methinks he doth protest too much.

—

Former Gay Youth Leader Re-Emerges to Tell His Dramatic Conversion Story – another one of those (allegedly) non-existent people.

—

—

Many people are familiar with the telephone game often used with kids to show the challenges and importance of clear communication.  It usually works with a message being given to one person who has a single chance to pass it along to another person.  By the time it gets to the end the message is hilariously (?) garbled.

Sometimes skeptics will use the telephone game analogy to criticize the writings of the Bible, and of the Gospels in particular.  Their premise is that the message was transmitted orally for at least a couple decades (and, by their often convoluted reasoning, many decades), so of course it got changed many times before it was put to paper. 

But that game is different than how the Bible was transmitted orally in many key ways:

1. The Bible wasn’t translated just one-on-one.  There were many witnesses and many people who heard and recounted the events.  People would catch errors instantly.
2. They didn’t get just one try.  In the telephone game you only get one chance, but in real life – and especially with the New Testament – Jesus probably gave the same message many times, and people repeated it many times with overlapping audiences.  Again, errors would be caught quickly.
3. Transmitters were well trained in memorizing stories.  People in that culture – especially Jewish men – were trained to memorize things well.  Many Muslims memorize the whole Koran even in our times. 
4. The message being transmitted wasn’t insignificant.  These people thought they had the words of life, and they worked hard to communicate it carefully.  And they often risked their lives to communicate this message. A good analogy I heard was that if a group of cancer patients went to hear someone describe how they could be cured, they would be inclined to pay close attention and to collectively document the information accurately.
5. The New Testament writers had the benefit of the Holy Spirit to guide them.  I don’t think the Holy Spirit is actively involved in too many instances of the regular telephone game.

A more detailed perspective is available here.

The conventional wisdom is that Charles Darwin was a Christian whose scientific discoveries led him away from God.  But does the evidence support that view? From Theist, Agnostic, Atheist: Will the Real Charles Darwin Please Stand Up?:

Some , like Alberto Kornblihtt, rather naively claim, “Darwin believed in God and his body is buried in Westminster Abbey.”  The standard rendering of Charles Darwin’s faith, however, is that it was a slow imperceptible slide into unbelief. On that we have Darwin’s own word. On religious matters he said, “I found it more and more difficult, with free scope given to my imagination, to invent evidence which would suffice to convinced me. Thus disbelief crept over me at a very slow rate, but was at last complete. The rate was so slow that I felt no distress.”

But if you read Darwin’s earlier writings you’ll discover that the statement in bold is almost certainly and deliberately false.

This received canon notwithstanding, others are less convinced. Stanley Jaki has noted: “The publication in full of Darwin’s Early Notebooks forces one to conclude that in writing his Autobiography Darwin consciously lied when he claimed that he slowly, unconsciously slipped into agnosticism. He tried to protect his own family as well as the Victorian public from the shock of discovering that his Notebooks resounded with militant materialism. The chief target of the Notebooks is man’s mind, the ‘citadel,’ in Darwin’s words, which was to be conquered by his evolutionary theory if its materialism were to be victorious.”

Go read the whole article.  It is quite compelling.

Is Darwinian evolution compatible with theism? It surley was never intended to be and certainly never intended to be compatible with Christianity, though Darwin was more than willing to enlist religious allies on its behalf.

. . .

So Darwin’s cagey religious minimalism would almost surely have stumped everyone on “To Tell the Truth.” Depending on the question he could appear weakly agnostic or even theistic at times. It is only after looking carefully at his private notebooks and matching his early experiences with his later writings that a coherent pattern emerges. Once identified as an undogmatic atheist or an agnostic atheist the real Charles Darwin can then stand up.

Even in Darwin’s day Liberal “Christians” rushed to support his views.  Darwin wanted his theory advanced by all means, so he accepted the support even while disbelieving in theistic evolution.

Once the theory was accepted,” Wiker adds, “the theistic patina would be ground away by the hard, anti-theistic core of the argument.

Go see the movie Expelled! and note how the Darwinists are still treating Liberal Christians as useful idiots in advancing their worldview.

Whether Darwin was honest about the impact of his religious views on his science is irrelevant as to whether the evidence supports his overall theory (it doesn’t).  But it is useful to explode the myths perpetuated by false teachers who would rather preach on Darwin than Jesus. 

While Darwinism doesn’t require atheism, atheism does require Darwinism.  That is why the New Atheists defend the Darwinian dogma with a ferocity that would make a stereotypical fundie Christian blush.

Visit Certain News Sites? Obama Wants To Know – Why isn’t the ACLU going nuts over this?

Big Brother Obama wants to know what news sites you visit. And he is having the justice department subpoena news sites to find out.

Click here: Justice Dept. Asked For News Site’s Visitor Lists

—

The world is upside down, morally speaking.  Newsweek: Terrorist Attack on Fort Hood was bad because it will spark conservative hatred

13 soldiers died at Fort Hood, and Newsweek’s Evan Thomas is concerned about “right wing fears.”

Appearing on NPR, he said, “I cringe that he’s a Muslim. I mean, because it inflames all the fears.”

NPR’s Nina Totenberg agreed, saying, “It really is tragic that he was a Muslim.”

Oh, really? I thought it was tragic that he killed 13 people.

Would it be better if he was an anti-abortion activist, so that you could inflame left wing fears about “domestic terrorism”?

Hat tip: Jill Stanek

—

Multiple lies from Obama & Co. on abortion and the health care bill – They don’t care what pro-lifers say.  They have every intention of sneaking it back into the bill.  This would not be the status quo, it would be the first time Federal funds would be used to pay for abortions.  Obama always claimed the bill wouldn’t cover abortions, so why does he oppose the Stupak amendment?

I know pro-aborts really like abortion, but does it ever bother them to have to lie so much to get their way?  Apparently not.

—

Over 90% of Down Syndrome children still being aborted — Tragic.  Morally schizophrenic and tragic.

—

I love when atheists bring up the “Jesus didn’t exist argument.” It is so easy to use the minimal facts approach and put the burden back on them.

I just point to the virtually unanimous position of historical scholars who agree that he lived. If the atheists want to form positions in opposition to historical facts then that is their problem. It quickly disarms them.

I also like to point out how even skeptics like the Jesus Seminar concede so many of the minimal facts. To come up with the theory that Jesus’ body was eaten by dogs, people like John Dominic Crossan unwittingly point to the significant evidence for not only the resurrection but the empty tomb. I submit that the physical resurrection accounts for the same facts Crossan appears to trust. I just find that the resurrection is a much more logical explanation.

False teachers will mock and discount the Bible as the word of God, even as they attend “Christian” seminaries and stand in pulpits of “Christian” churches.  That is a clear sign that they are fakes.  If they were true believers they would accept the word of God as the Thessalonians did.  Read this carefully:

1 Thessalonians 2:13 And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.

If you aren’t sure if you are encountering a false teacher, just ask them if they think 1 Thessalonians 2:13 is the word of God.  Then you’ll know.

The Bible teaches over and over just how important sound doctrine is.  When people mock that importance and say that the Bible is not the word of God then they are doing you a big favor.  They are shouting out that they are inauthentic.  Don’t follow them.

Hey, I wrote a forward to a book!  My friend and regular commenter Richard Graves (aka DJ Black Adam) wrote Unbelieving Believers.    Please consider purchasing it here or get it free with a $25 donation to his ministry here.  You can also check out his ministry on Blog Talk Radio. 

Here’s the forward:

I met Richard through the world of blogging and we’ve become good friends.  We agree on a lot and disagree on some things as well, but the discussions are always as polite as they are passionate.  One thing I really admire about Richard is that he doesn’t just reflexively spout the positions of a political party.  He thinks through each issue carefully and forms his own assessment. 

When it comes to the essentials of Christianity and the important topics Richard addresses here we are very well aligned.  His book is a strong and clear reminder of the essentials of the faith. 

Many churches and Christians are running on the fumes of Christianity.  By that I mean that we may do things out of habit and aren’t relying on the real power of God.  We say we believe but our words and actions betray us, or at least shine a light on our lack of confidence.  We’ve become too worldly.

Just as Jesus warned, there are many false teachers – wolves in sheep’s clothing – whose intent is to lead us astray and destroy us.  Sometimes the attacks are more obvious than others. 

Sometimes the subtle attacks are the most dangerous.  As Richard notes, so many people go through life saying, “I believe in God / the Holy Spirit / Jesus / the Bible, BUT . . .”  They let false ideas keep them from living a more vibrant Christian life and transforming the world through the power of the Gospel.

A key to successful living is constantly replacing lies with the truth, and Richard’s book is a great place to start.   Become aware of the lies you’ve let yourself believe and replace those with the eternal truths of God’s word.

Richard isn’t afraid to speak those truths boldly – but what would you expect from an ex-Marine?  When so many who claim the name of Christ either contradict or water down God’s word I am thrilled to be on the side of brothers in Christ like Richard who aren’t ashamed of the Gospel and share it with a balance of grace and truth.

As you read Unbelieving Believers I pray that you will remember many great truths of the faith and recharge your own passion to live in light of eternity.  You don’t want to look back on this life and wish you had participated more in expanding the kingdom.  You want to look back and know you gave it all you could and that you were a “believing believer!”

The “Reverend” Chuck Currie posted this Open Letter from Religious Leaders to Members of Congress Supporting Inclusion of Abortion Services in Health Care Reform.  Who needs Syrup of Ipecac when you have religious people not only wanting legalized abortion (bad enough) but wanting to make pro-lifers pay for it?  That isn’t pro-choice, that is pro-abortion.

And who doesn’t realize that once the government is in complete control of health care that they’ll do away with those pesky conscience clauses and force doctors to do abortions?

Before I dive into the letter, I wonder where the “separation of church and state” folks are and why aren’t they frothing at the mouth over this gross intrusion of religious beliefs into our political system?  Oh, yeah, they are pro-abortion, so they don’t care about these religious beliefs being voiced.  Of course, there is nothing wrong with your religious views informing your political views, but a little consistency from the ACLU crowd would be nice.

Dear Members of Congress,

As religious leaders, we support public policies that are just and compassionate and prioritize the needs of those who are poor and marginalized in our society.

Oh, they are so compassionate.  How about justice and compassion for these victims?  They seem more than marginalized to me.

Therefore we are opposed to attempts – many made in the name of religion and morality – to exclude abortion services from health care reform. While our reasons for supporting the inclusion of abortion services in health care are diverse, they are grounded in the teachings of our faith traditions and our commitment to social justice.

What nonsense.  I’ll be glad to debate Chuck over what the Bible says about taking innocent human life any day.  Justice is about protecting the innocent, not harming them.  I usually present the pro-life cause without the Bible.  It is rather simple, given the scientific fact that life begins at conception and that it is immoral to take innocent human life for 99% of the reasons given for abortion.  But if people claim to believe the Bible then the case is even easier.

The majority of faith groups in America have affirmed that abortion is a decision of conscience that should be safeguarded by government. Further, these faith traditions affirm that health care services, including abortion, must be available to all, regardless of income.

Got any Bible verses for that, Chuck?  I’ve read the Bible many times and noted that Jesus never told us to petition Caesar to take money by threat of force and loss of freedom from neighbor A to give to neighbor B for anything, let alone abortions.  He taught to give our own money to help others.

If coverage for abortion is eliminated from health care reform, the poor and communities of color will bear the consequences.

Yeah, they won’t have killed their children.  Hey Chuck, ever been outside the U.S., where 90% of the people make the poor in the U.S. look rich?  Are you saying that all those people should have been aborted?

And what naked racism!  These pro-abortion plans will only increase the three-to-one ratio of black abortions to whites.  That will further the inequality and genocide of the black community.  Fact: More black human beings will die under Chuck’s plan.

Already, a low-income woman is four times as likely to have an unintended pregnancy and five times as likely to have an unintended birth as her higher income counterpart. Lack of access to abortion services perpetuates inequality and compromises the future of women, their families and their communities.

Then why don’t you just kill those pesky poor children outside the womb?  The size, level of development, environment and dependency of a human being should have no bearing on her right to life.  The “inequality” buzzword implies that someone forced these women to get pregnant.

In this religiously pluralistic nation, our health care system should be inclusive and respectful of diverse religious beliefs and decisions regarding childbearing. One in three American women has an abortion by age 45, making it one of the most common medical procedures in the nation. Ignoring this truth belies the rhetoric of comprehensive, accessible health care.

Oh, so if lots of people commit a sin then we should fund it?  Great logic, Chuck.

And you aren’t being respectful of religious beliefs that oppose taking innocent human life.  Why are you forcing those people to pay for abortions?  Why not just give the money yourself to help these women have their unborn children destroyed?

A health care system that serves all persons with dignity and equality will include comprehensive reproductive health services.

Here’s some dignity and equality for you, Chuck.

We call on Congress to preserve the current standard of reproductive health care and ensure that millions of uninsured and underinsured women will have access to these services.

What satanic wordsmanship.  “Reproductive health?”  Not too healthy for the human being destroyed in the process.  “Preserve the current standard?”  No, they are asking for a major change.

Chuck is such a great poster boy for these fake religionists.  Just a few tidbits about this “Christian Reverend.”

• He did a whole sermon on how John 14:6 is wrong about Jesus being the only way to salvation.  His fake seminary was so bad that they didn’t even tell Chuck that there are 99 other passages with the same message, not to mention the endless Old Testament references commanding us not to worship other gods.
• He is pro-oxymoronic “same sex marriage” and says homosexual behavior is not a sin, despite the fact that 100% of the verses addressing homosexual behavior denounce it as sin in the clearest and strongest possible terms, 100% of the verses referencing God’s ideal for marriage involve one man and one woman, 100% of the verses referencing parenting involve moms and dads with unique roles (or at least a set of male and female parents guiding the children) and 0% of 31,173 Bible verses refer to homosexual behavior in a positive or even benign way or even hint at the acceptability of homosexual unions.
• He preached a whole sermon praising Charles Darwin (he knows less about science than he does Christianity) and didn’t mention Jesus once.
• He is a serial, unrepentent liar.   He knows it.  I know it.  He knows that I know that he knows it.  He deleted a comment of mine once (no biggie) but when I pointed that out he lied and said it had “racist, sexist, homophobic, offensive language and more.”  But despite a couple dozen requests he has never backed up that false claim.  He thought he could get away with that lie and is now too proud to ‘fess up.  Great example, “Rev!”  You’ll repeatedly lie like that but we can totally trust you on everything else, right?
• The whole pro-abortion thing.

There is so much more, but you get the idea.  There is a bright side to false teachers being so over the top with their heresies and blasphemies:  It makes them easy to spot.  They don’t even bother masquerading as angels of light; now they are out of the closet as angels of death.

2 Corinthians 11:13-15 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.

Carl Sagan famously uttered the title, sans question mark.  I’d say he is in the right direction, as a corollary to Ockham’s Razor.  Things that are especially unusual or impactful deserve more scrutiny.

But I prefer Greg Koukl’s take, which is that extraordinary claims require adequate evidence or justification.  Just because the Bible makes claims of miracles doesn’t mean God needs to perform one for you on demand. 

I’m glad to stack up the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus — even just the parts that almost all historians agree with – against the atheistic theories about the creation of the universe and how life came from non-life.  Those are wildly extraordinary claims that go begging in search of evidence.  They not only don’t have extraordinary evidence, they have no evidence at all — just atheistic presuppositions. 

Sadly, it appears that Carl ignored the evidence for God:

Romans 1:18-20 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

So if anyone quotes the title to you, be sure to point out who has the best evidence for their extraordinary claims. 

More information

Could life have emerged spontaneously on the early Earth?  Short answer: No.  But that doesn’t stop some from believing it.

Does God exist? Is there any scientific evidence to prove that God exists?   Yes and yes.  We not only have scientific evidence, but logical, historical, moral and more.